Interview with DBC Pierre

A former conman and coke fiend, Dirty But Clean Pierre (aka Peter Finlay) once wandered the planet indebting himself to thugs. He’s been shot by a neighbour, required facial reconstruction after a car crash, and once scammed thousands of dollars… off an elderly friend. He was, in his words, a “conniving bastard.” Then, in 2003, he won the prestigious literary award the Man Booker, a prize previously conferred on William Golding, Iris Murdoch and Salman Rushdie. As his nom de plume suggests, he’s cleaned himself up these days. He’s also a charming bugger. Here we are in 2006 talking about all sorts of things.